The Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) yesterday disclosed that the current outbreak of meningitis has reached epidemic proportions in five States and that the number of cases has risen to 1, 966 as at March 2017.
The state’s most hit are Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Niger States.
In a statement made available to the media Thursday, the Director General of the Agency, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said given the size of the outbreak and the number of States affected, the agency is leading a multi-agency Cerebrospinal meningitis, CSM, Outbreak Control Team to coordinate the response.
Ihekweazu said the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, is also leading a reactive vaccination in Zamfara State, while a similar response is currently being planned in Kebbi and Sokoto States.
According to him, the vaccines that provide protection to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (NmC) are not commercially available and need to be acquired through a special process managed by WHO.
“NPHCDA is working closely with World Health Organization to ensure that we get access to vaccines needed to respond to the outbreak and prevent further cases.
“In addition, UNICEF is currently supporting affected States to scale up social mobilization focusing on grassroots’ engagement.”
The CEO of NCDC further explained that the outbreak team which comprises representatives from the NPHCDA, World Health Organization, UNICEF, US Centers for Disease Control, Médecins Sans Frontières and E-Health Africa will be focusing on communicating prevention messages.
The team will also focus on strengthening surveillance, case detection, verification and management as well as communication and coordination across the affected States.
Throwing light on tackling the challenge, Ihekweazu said, “We understand meningitis peaks every year in the dry season in certain States and we must work better with these States to prevent the unnecessary loss of lives.
“We must work collectively to stop this outbreak and prevent outbreaks of this scale in the future”.
In her speech, the Director of Surveillance at the NCDC, Mrs. Olubunmi Ojo noted that immunization is key to the prevention of meningitis.
She said that “Between 2011 -2014, the MenAfriVacvaccination campaign against the predominantly circulating Neisseria meningitisdisserogroup ‘A’ in Nigeria then, led to a major reduction in cases recorded from that strain.
“We now see an outbreak caused predominantly by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (NmC). While reactive vaccination helps to curtail outbreaks, a vaccination campaign against NmC with a long-lasting conjugate vaccine is sorely needed in the region.”
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